Shopping trolley for supermarkets and the like

ABSTRACT

A shopping trolley having a basket (1) mounted on a support structure (4) and a user handle (5). The support structure is mounted on a wheeled carriage (2). The basket is openable at its rear to permit nesting of similar trolleys, and the rear opening is closed by a swinging flap (18) which is made up of a single plastics molding incorporating the basket (1) the support structure (4) and the wheeled carriage (2). Preferably the shopping trolley may have one or more generally flat areas (6) on the front and/or side walls of the basket (1). The areas (6) are surrounded by retaining ribs (7), and (6) are adapted for the insertion of advertising plates (20).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shopping trolley for supermarkets andthe like.

In large establishments, such as supermarkets and the like, it is usualto provide shopping trolleys for the use of customers for the collectionand movement of purchased goods, the said trolleys generally beingfabricated from metal bars and rods.

A recent idea has been to take advantage also of the said trolleys asmeans of advertising, for which different solutions have been developed,which is all cases are based on the incorporation on the aforementionedtrolleys of supports intended to carry the advertising slogans.

This however, with a conventional trolley leads to excessive costs, bothin terms of their initial construction and also the application of meansfor carrying advertising slogans which suggests that a more advantageousconstruction might be in plastics, given the considerable constructionaladvantages which exist today with this type of material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this and conforming to the present invention there isproposed a trolley made up from an integral assembly in plastics, inwhich are jointly integrated the basket for holding the products and thesupporting structure, with the need to incorporate only thecorresponding rolling elements on the base, and the door defining therear wall of the basket, which must be pivotable to allow the stackingof trolleys together, the mounting of the said door being achieved bymeans of a simple engagement of couplings between respective formationson the door and other corresponding formations on the structural body ofthe trolley.

On the side and front faces of the basket there is foreseen moreover thedefinition of areas for the incorporation of advertising plates, theareas being defined and shaped during the actual construction of thestructural body of the trolley, without its being necessary toincorporate any accessory afterwards, other than simply attaching thedesired advertising plates, by means of simple insertion.

By this is obtained a trolley with a simple and economical construction,whose realization permits an advantageous aesthetic aspect with thedesired peculiarities, integrating in its actual formation the means forthe easy incorporation of advertising plates without the need for anyother element.

For which reasons the said trolley which is the object of the inventionhas advantageous characteristics, which give it a life of its own and apreferred character in relation to the conventional trolleys of the sametype which currently exist, made from metal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order better to understand the nature of the invention, in theattached drawings show, by way of purely illustrative and non limitativeexample, one preferred form of industrial realization, particularlydescribed below.

In the said drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a side elevation of a supermarket trolley;

FIG. 2 is a corresponding plan view of the trolley;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the trolley, with one of the halves incross section along a transverse plane at the level of half of thelongitudinal dimension;

FIG. 4 is a side view in cross section of the trolley, without the rearflap of the basket;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view, with one half in cross section showingthe lower structural base;

FIG. 6 is a detail in cross section which shows the position of the reardoor of the basket, showing the child seat, which is incorporatedtherein, opened up;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are all corresponding views in elevation, profile andfrom above, of one of the tongues which may be incorporated in thetrolley on the sides of the rear flap of the basket;

FIGS. 10 and 11 correspond to a side view in cross section andcorresponding half front view of the piece making up the rear flap ofthe basket;

FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 correspond to a side view in cross section, halffront view and a respective transverse section of the plate forming theback of the folding seat incorporated in the aforementioned rear flap ofthe basket;

FIGS. 15 and 16 show respectively a side view in cross section and acorresponding front view of the plate which joined with the otheraforementioned forms the folding seat assembly, and

FIGS. 17 and 18 are both details which correspond respectively to avertical section and a horizontal section of one of the areas of thebasket intended for the incorporation of advertising on the trolley.

CLARIFYING DETAILS

1. Basket

2. Base or carriage

3. Wheels

4. Support structure

5. Handle

6. Areas for advertising

7. Surrounding ribs

8. Articulated fixing formations

9. Lower abutment

10. Seat plate

11. Back plate

12. Angular piece

13. Fixing lugs

14. Insertion openings

15. Nesting recess

16. Bending zone

17. Additional platform

18. Swinging flap

19. Insertion housing

20. Advertising sheet

21. Transparent plate

22. Mouth

23. Insertion formations

24. Mounting formations

25. Insertion formations

26. Mounting formations

27. Slot

28. Perpendicular edge

29. Protruding formations

30. Receiver

31. Recess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings there is shown a shopping trolley for supermarkets andthe like, which is made up from a single molding in plastics material,which includes unitarily the basket (1) for keeping the products, thebase or carriage (2) in which are to be incorporated the wheels (3) formovement, and the support structure (4) in whose upper part is definedbetween both sides the corresponding user handle or grip (5) formaneuvering.

This whole assembly is made up with internal and/or external ribs, whichgive the necessary structural rigidity, while the walls and the base ofthe basket (1) may be provided with grooves, flat central zones or areas(6) being provided in the side and front faces of the said basket (1),surrounded by a raised rib (7) like a frame, in such a way that on thesaid zones (6) it is possible to incorporate advertising plates, bymeans of a simple insertion.

In accordance with one particular embodiment, which is non-limitative,as can be seen in FIGS. 17 and 18, the aforementioned advertising zones(6) may define a peripheral housing (19), either to situate the actualzone (6) in recess with respect to the corresponding wall of the basket(1), or projecting outwards from the contour, as with the rib (7)previously mentioned, in whose housing (19) is possible to mount thedesired advertising sheets (20), which may be assembled on their own orjointly with a transparent plate (21) placed in front; it being foreseenthat the housing (19) is open along one side or along the upper edge, todefine a mouth (22) which facilitates the insertion and extraction ofthe sheets (20) and the plate (21) by simple sliding.

In the aforementioned unitary structural assembly, the rear part of thebasket (1) remains open, the closure of this part being foreseen bymeans of an independent flap (18), also made of plastics, which isincorporated during assembly by means of an upper articulated fixing, bymeans of corresponding fixing formations (8), making in the lower partan abutment (9) which limits its rearwards movement.

Said flap (18) remains thus in a position in which it can swing inwards,by means of a gyration on the fixing formations (8), which permit theintroduction of one trolley into another for stationary stacking, as inthe case of conventional trolleys, to which end the basket (1), as wellas the structural base (2) taper towards the front end, with the objectof making it able to introduce the front of another trolley through therear.

In the aforementioned flap (18), which is therefore like a collapsibledoor in this rear part of the basket (1), there is also foreseen theincorporation of a child seat, which is made up of two respective plates(10) and (11), mounted by articulated fixing on the flap (18) in such away that one of the said plates (10), working as a seat, passes throughthe other plate (11), working as a back, making up a folding assemblywhich may remain collapsed in juxtaposition on the aforementioned flap(18), in such a way that it takes up little space in the inside of thebasket (1); while to position it for use as a seat, it is necessary onlyto push and tilt the upper part to the plate (11) forming the backtowards the inside of the basket,

In accordance with one particular embodiment the plate (10) making upthe seat, is provided (see FIGS. 15 and 16) with an undulatingconfiguration, having on one end partially open cylindrical housings(23), through which is possible an insertion coupling on respectiveformations (24) of the flap (18), with a pivoting mounting which permitsthe swinging of the said plate (10).

The plate (11) forming the back, (see FIGS. 11, 12 and 13) having forits part other end housings (25), also partially open, by means of whichis possible in its turn the insertion coupling on respective formations(26) of the flap (18), defining also a pivoting mounting which permitsthe swinging likewise of the said plate (11).

The aforementioned plate (11) has moreover a central slot (27), throughwhich is passed during assembly the plate (10), which for its part hason the end opposite to that of the coupling on the flap (18), aperpendicular receiver (28) on the front edge and prominent formations(29) on the sides, constituting with all this an abutment which preventsthe exit of the said end through the aforementioned slot (27) of theplate (11).

In this way, a mounted assembly is defined between both plates (10) and(11) and the flap (18) such that when the plate (11) is swung from abovetowards the inside of the basket (1), the plate (10) draws back throughthe slot (27), until the formations (29) and the receiver (28) establishan abutment which assures the stability of the assembly in an unfoldedposition, as can be seen in Figure 6, that is to say with the plate (10)in a position as a seat base and the plate (11) in position as a back.

From this unfolded position, it is sufficient with a swing towards therear of the plate (11), by means of simple pulling on the upper part ofthe same towards the flap (18), for the said plate (11) to be collapsedin juxtaposition against the aforementioned flap (18), at the same timeas the plate (10) draws back through the slot, in order to collapse downby the other side on the actual door (18) between the sides of thatplate (11), the whole assembly thereby being folded, without projectinginside the basket (1), and without obstructing the placing of objectsinside the same.

With a view to the ability to fold, the plate (10) is provided with areceiver (30) in the end where the mounting couplings (23) go, whichpermits the said plate (10) to fall down without difficulty in front ofthe plate (11) when this arrives in juxtaposition against the flap (18);while the said plate (11) is provided with recesses (31) which permitthe adaptation on the articulations (8) of the mounting of the door(18), making possible the return of the aforementioned plate (11) withrespect to this flap (18), in order that the structure of the seatremains almost completely concealed in the folded position.

With the intention of preventing the possible escape of small articlesbetween the door (18) and the corresponding side walls of the structuralassembly of the basket (1), in the lower zone of the corresponding partof the supporting structure (4), which is where such an eventualitycould occur, there is foreseen the incorporation on the side wallsthemselves of tongue-like pieces (12), such as that shown in FIGS. 7 to9.

The said pieces (12) are, as can be seen, of a dihedral shape, beingfixed by one of their wings, by means of the insertion of some lugs (13)in corresponding holes (14) made in the side walls of the basket (1), insuch a way that the other wing remains perpendicularly towards theinside, in front of the flap (18), consequently closing the space whichmay exist between this and the respective sides of the basket (1).

This incorporation of the aforementioned pieces (12) is established in anesting recess (15) of the said side walls of the basket (1), suchpieces (12) having in the edge of the corner a bending zone (16); insuch a way that on effecting the introduction of one trolley intoanother in the stack, said pieces (12) flex lodging themselves in thecorresponding nesting recesses (15), allowing the introduction of thestacking between the trolleys referred to, without any difficulty.

In accordance with one particularity, in order to increase thepossibilities of loading on the trolley, it is foreseen that a platform17 on the base structure or carriage (2) may be incorporated to permitthe placing of objects also on this base (2); the aforementionedplatform (17) must be a swinging assembly, as can be seen in FIG. 1, topermit the stacking introduction of the trolleys.

The grip or handle (5) is provided with a section adequate safely tosupport the stresses to which it must be submitted when maneuvering thetrolley, it being foreseen that said grip (5) has at least in one zonean appropriate section for the fixing of the coin holder with which itis necessary to provide these trolleys for their attachment to eachother and to the corresponding place in the stacked parking of the same.

Without altering the concept and the essence of the invention, for theadvertising on the trolley, in the same way there could be providedsupports also incorporated on the zones (6), fixed by adhesive, screwingor any other conventional method.

I claim:
 1. A shopping trolley comprising:a basket defining a nesting recess mounted on a support structure having a user handle and which support structure is mounted on a wheeled carriage, the basket having a rear opening to permit nesting of similar trolleys via corresponding nesting recesses, the rear opening being closed by a swinging flap, pivotally mounted to the basket said rear opening having sides, a space is defined between the swinging flap and the sides of the rear opening, said rear opening in the basket is in part closed by angular pieces coupled to said basket and disposed in the lower part of a space which remains between said swinging flap and said sides of the rear opening, and protruding behind the swinging flap, said angular pieces having a bending zone, whereby said pieces are retractable into said corresponding nesting recessess when the trolleys are nested togethers the shopping trolley comprising a single plastics molding including said basket, said support structure, and said wheeled carriage.
 2. A shopping trolley according to claim 1, wherein at least one generally flat area is on at least one of the front walls and the side walls of the basket, said area both being surrounded by retaining ribs, said retaining ribs defining the edges of a recessed, smooth surface adapted for the adhesion of an advertising plate.
 3. A shopping trolley according to claim 2, wherein said at least one area has a peripheral housing, in which an advertising plate can be inserted, said housing being open at one side edge, for the introduction and extraction of the plates.
 4. A shopping trolley according to claim 1, wherein a pair of plates (10,11) hingedly mounted on the swinging flap (18) of the basket (1) such that the plate (10) passes midway through the plate (11), said plates (10,11) constituting an assembly which is foldable against the swinging flap (18), and which can be erected to form a child's seat with a back. 